Benzema is one of France's key players as it gets ready to
host the Euro 2016 tournament, but he faces allegations of teaming up
with a friend to extort money from teammate Mathieu Valbuena using
blackmail over a sex tape the Lyon midfielder recorded.
His alleged active role in pressuring France teammate
Mathieu Valbuena has badly damaged his reputation and could even earn
him the sack at Real Madrid.
A great athlete should be exemplary," Prime Minister Manuel
Valls told French radio Europe 1. "If he is not, he has no place within
the France team."
The investigation, started when Valbuena took legal action
after being contacted by a man claiming to possess an incriminating sex
tape.
In a case that could drag on for months, Benzema's
involvement has not yet been fully determined. But investigators who
charged him in October believe he was approached by a childhood friend
to act as an intermediary and convince Valbuena to deal directly with
the black mailers, it should be noted that Benzema in 2008 did the same
thing with Djibril Cisse over a sex tape.
"If a minister was handed preliminary charges, he would no longer be part of the government," Valls said.
Benzema denies any wrongdoing but his arguments were
undermined last week when Valbuena spoke directly about his attempts to
pressure him in an interview with Le Monde newspaper.
"There are so many kids, so many youngsters in our suburbs
that relate to great athletes," Valls said. "They wear the blue jersey,
the colors of France, which are so important in these moments."
Benzema's laywer hit back at French prime minister Valls.
"So what's the prime minister doing about presumption of
innocence?" Alain Jakubowicz said on RTL radio. "This case is being
played out in the media in an absolutely scandalous way, prompting the
prime minister to express himself on a case he knows absolutely nothing
about. Who will it be tomorrow? The president of France?"
No comments:
Post a Comment